HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-12-19-2020-min Town of Lexington
Lexington 20/20 Vision Committee
Minutes of Meeting of December 19,2014
A meeting of the 20/20 Vision Committee was held on Friday, December 19, 2014 at 7:45 a.m.in the Parker Room in the
Town Office Building at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue.
Members Present: Fernando Quezada, Dan Krupka, Joe Pato, Carroll Ann Bottino, Peter Enrich, Alan Wrigley, Andrew
Dixon, Bhumip Khasnabish, Peter Lee
Staff: Melissa Jones
Members Absent: Matthew Pronchik, Saatvik Ahluwalia, Margaret Coppe, Ginna Johnson
Action Items:
• Discuss updates to 20/20 web page with Town Webmaster(Melissa)
• Confirm attendance of Donna Hooper at January meeting (Melissa)
• Discuss potential new focus areas with liaisons from the Board of Selectmen,Planning Board and School
Committee (Fernando)
• Circulate the write-ups for the potential new focus areas to the Committee (Melissa)
The meeting was called to order at 7:50 a.m. and acted on the following items:
Discuss updates to 20/20 web page: Andrew shared his thoughts on the kinds of changes that will improve the web page
and make it more visually engaging. He noted that the web page presents an opportunity to promote things, such as the
Citizens' Academy and current projects that the Committee is working on. The group noted that the web page is,in part,
a recruiting tool, and discussed a need to make the contact information more clear. It was determined that there should be
a blurb that says `click here for more information' that links to the 20/20 email address. The group noted that the revised
Committee charge should be featured to provide a clear explanation of what the Committee does. The group also
discussed the need to include information on past and current projects,including data sets and charts from the community
survey,the demographic change report, and other studies. The group asked whether the Town has specific requirements
for web pages that the Committee needs to follow. Melissa will discuss this with the Town's Webmaster(Kathy Santos).
The group agreed that it should consistently use "20/20"instead of"2020"in the Committee's title. Melissa reported that
in the last year, there were 629 page views, and that the most views occurred between late January and early March.
Fernando said that we should keep an eye on the analytics over time to determine how frequently people are visiting the
Committee page. Andrew agreed to continue acting as the point person for this item
Potential new 20/20 focus areas:
• Issues of diversity beyond race and ethnicity: The group reviewed Fernando's write-up,which outlines a need
to understand how age,income, education level, and other factors of diversity impact Lexington's community
nature. Peter E.noted that there may be a wide range of views among residents regarding the value of diversity.
Andrew said that there may be a"not in my backyard" sentiment,in which people may like the idea of diversity
but their actions prove otherwise. The group used the example of rising housing prices as an example of
homogeneity that people might support, as this raises their own property values. The group also discussed age
diversity, and how a gap in 25- 40 year olds may have consequences for diversity. Dan said that these questions
will force us to look at the data on age,income and other factors, and will allow us to study the trends. The group
discussed the importance of understanding not only the data,but also community attitudes,preferences and values
regarding these issues. Fernando noted that the culture of Lexington is driven by the people who live in it, and
that this could be impacted by these change factors.
• Future of e-government: The Committee is looking forward to meeting with Donna Hooper, Chief Information
Officer, at its meeting in January. Melissa will confirm Donna's attendance.
• Capital planning and fiscal challenges: Fernando reminded the group that this topic has to do with planning for
investment in several large scale capital projects in the coming years.
Peter said that the Committee should set a timeline for determining how to proceed with these three focus areas. He said
that it would be helpful to hear from the three elected boards on their perspectives regarding the value of exploring these
topics. Dan said that the Committee should sharpen the focus of each of these items so that it can articulate the specific
deliverables to the elected boards. Peter L. said that it would be helpful if the boards could prioritize the issues. The
group discussed the need to determine what its capacity is to do the work, and where the expertise will come from. The
group set a deadline of February or March to determine which direction to go with each of the focus areas. Fernando said
that he would reach out to the Committee's liaisons from the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board and School Committee
to inform them of the Committee's desire to hear their feedback. Melissa will circulate the three write-ups to the
Committee via email so that all members have a copy.
Approved minutes from November 21,2014.
Next steps for study of community models of multicultural integration: Melissa reported that she presented the
request for funding at the Board of Selectmen's FY16 budget hearing. Joe noted that there are several steps—including
the Town Manager's budget recommendation and Town Meeting approval—that this request will need to go through
before it is approved. Dan agreed to continue acting as the point person for this item.
Other-update on scheduling survey presentations: Fernando reminded the group that it had discussed making three
public presentations of the community survey results. He reported that Marian will present the results at the League of
Women Voters' First Friday forum on February 6, 2015. She will also present the results at a Tuesday morning breakfast
at the Depot with the Chamber of Commerce and other members of the business community(following the meeting,
Fernando confirmed that this presentation will take place on Tuesday, February 10, 2015). Fernando noted that we still
need to identify a forum for the third presentation.
Meeting adjourned: 9:00 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted: Melissa Jones, Scribe
Next meeting: Friday, January 23, 2015 in the Parker Room